|
Weight Loss
Surgery Centers
Our
website has been created to give you a thorough understanding of
the risks of morbid obesity
as well as the risks and benefits of
weight loss surgery and other bariatric
procedures. The majority of society believes the
only cause of morbid obesity is lack of will power on the part
of the overweight person. Even many obese people believe this
and cannot understand why they have failed to "take it off and
keep it off." They are often left feeling hopeless after trying
various methods to lose weight, including
weight loss programs,
diet pills, and other ineffective remedies. Most often they end
up regaining any lost weight.
Morbid obesity can inflict life-threatening diseases, emotional
stress, hardship, and discomfort upon its victims.
Unfortunately, most people do not truly understand the full
spectrum of its causes and cures of morbid obesity. Perhaps no
other medical condition has been more misunderstood, maltreated,
and misrepresented.
This site has been created to give you a thorough understanding
of the risks of morbid obesity as well as the risks and
benefits
of weight loss procedures. Talking to your primary care
physician, bariatric surgeon or family physician is a good next
step. Finding a local bariatric surgeon and support group is
another good step. Chances are there is a bariatric or weight
loss surgery center or clinic in or near your community that
specializes in weight loss surgery.
Remember, there is much misinformation about surgery for
morbid
obesity that you may encounter from unqualified sources. Talking
to others who have taken the path you are now considering may
help you understand what you need to know to make a decision you
can be comfortable with. In the end, your best source of
information is an experienced bariatric surgeon who knows how to
handle your special needs before, during and
after surgery for
morbid obesity.
LAP-BAND
Surgical Procedure
Lap band surgery is a bariatric method that creates a smaller gastric pouch.
The LAP-BAND System limits
the amount of food that the stomach will hold at any time. The
inflatable ring controls the flow of food from this smaller
pouch to the rest of the digestive tract. The patient will feel
comfortably full with a small amount of food. And because of the
slow emptying, the patient will continue to feel full for
several hours reducing the urge to eat between meals...
Gastric Bypass Surgery via "Roux-en-Y"
Gastric Bypass Surgery via the Roux-en-Y is generally considered
to be the best surgical procedure for the treatment of morbid
obesity. Weight loss is achieved by reducing the functional
portion of the stomach to a pouch one ounce or less in size, and
by creating a stoma, a small opening between the stomach and the
intestine. The small size of the stomach pouch causes the
patient to have a sensation of fullness after eating only a
small portion of food. The small stoma delays stomach emptying,
making the sensation of fullness last longer. These are called
the Restrictive components of the procedure. The limb of
intestine coming down from the small pouch is called the Roux
limb...
What To
Expect After Gastric Bypass Surgery
When you are able to move about without too much discomfort, to
take in food by mouth, and can do without injected pain
medication (about 4 to 5 days), you are ready to leave the
hospital. At the time of discharge, you will be given specific
instructions indicating what you may and may not do and when to
come back to the office for follow-up. You will need to remain
on a liquid diet after discharge and you will receive additional
instructions regarding your diet from the surgeon. Several weeks
after you have left the hospital, you will be able to eat
regular food in small quantities...
The
benefits of the gastric bypass procedure
The benefits of the gastric bypass procedure very much outweigh
the risks. 75% of patients are expected to lose 75 to 80% of
their excess body weight. Well over 70 to 80% of patients with
hypertension will be off medications and well over 90% of
patients with type II non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
are expected to be off medication. Drastically improved, if not
completely resolved includes sleep apnea, asthma, joint pain,
arthritis, reflux, fatigue, shortness of breath and an overall
increased sense of well-being...
Obesity
and Children
Today's youth are considered the most inactive generation in
history caused in part by reductions in school physical
education programs and unavailable or unsafe community
recreational facilities. In the U.S., only the state of Illinois
requires daily physical education for students in grades K to
12. Obesity in children and adolescents is a serious issue with
many health and social consequences that often continue into
adulthood. Implementing prevention programs and getting a better
understanding of treatment for youngsters is important to
controlling the obesity epidemic...
Candidates For Gastric Bypass Surgery
Gastric bypass surgery is recommended for those persons who are
90 pounds or more overweight and have or are likely to have
medical complications that will be helped, and in many
instances, cured by substantial weight loss. While weight loss
surgery is not for everyone, there are a large number of
patients for whom losing a lot of weight is imperative,
including those suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure,
heart trouble, shortness of breath, arthritis and orthopedic
(bone) problems with their legs, hips or back. Weight loss
surgery actually fails in those persons who drink large
quantities of regular soft drinks, consume sweets, ice cream,
chips and fatty fried foods. If you are one of these people and
feel you cannot switch to diet drinks and cut out sweets and
fried foods then gastric bypass surgery is not for you...
Gastric
Bypass Surgery Risks
Statistics have improved dramatically from gastric bypass surgery
over the last 8 years. Therse is still a significant
degree of risk to any surgery and you should have a
comprehensive conversation with your bariatric surgeon before
any procedure..
People who suffer from morbid obesity can have other serious
medical conditions which are related to or caused by being
overweight. The higher your BMI is, the more likely it is that
other medical problems will exist. Other medical problems can
increase the risk of complications from gastric bypass surgery
and the recovery period after gastric bypass surgery. Another
risk factor is age, although this increases the need for surgery
there is generally a higher risk. Any medical procedure that
involves humans and reactions to stress, trauma, drugs, and
other causes, unpredictable negative results can and will occur.
This surgery should be considered only after many attempts with
other diet control and exercise have failed. Diet and exercise
will be required before and after this surgery...
Health Risks of Morbid Obesity
-
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
from Morbid Obesity
-
Morbid obesity increases CVD
risk due to its effect on blood lipid levels.
-
Weight loss improves blood
lipid levels by lowering triglycerides and LDL (“bad”)
cholesterol and increasing HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
-
Weight loss of 5% to 10% can
reduce total blood cholesterol.
-
The effects of morbid obesity
on cardiovascular health can begin in childhood, which
increases the risk of developing CVD as an adult.
-
Morbid obesity increases the
risk of illness and death associated with coronary heart
disease...
Insurance Coverage for Gastric Bypass
Surgery
Most insurance companies will pay for gastric bypass surgery
procedures that are medically necessary. Morbid obesity is a
life threatening disease and it is normally covered.
Aetna Insurance is now asking for the patients entire medical
work-up along with the pre-authorization request as well as
documented weight loss attempts supervised by a physician for
the last 2 years. They also want documented weight history for
the last 5 years.
Many insurance plans do not provide reimbursement for weight
loss treatment. According to many practitioners, few private
insurance indemnity plans or managed care organizations appear
to cover the costs of obesity treatment regardless of whether
the service is a medically supervised program of weight
reduction or maintenance, nutrition counseling, surgery or a
pharmaceutical product. The countless number of available
insurance plans and ever changing policies have made it
difficult to assess the extent to which obesity treatment and
prevention services are covered by third party insurers. More
data and better tracking is necessary to determine the health
needs of persons with obesity...
Morbid
Obesity Information
Obesity results from consuming more calories than the body uses.
Genetic and environmental factors influence body weight, but
precisely how they interact to determine a person's weight is
still unclear. One proposed explanation is that body weight is
regulated around a set point, similar to a thermostat setting. A
higher-than-normal set point may explain why some people are
obese and why losing weight and maintaining weight loss are
difficult for them. Obesity is a disease that affects nearly
one-third of the adult American population (approximately 60
million). The number of overweight and obese Americans has
continued to increase since 1960, a trend that is not slowing
down. Today, 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million)
are categorized as being overweight or obese. Each year, obesity
causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and
healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to
approximately $100 billion...
Morbid
Obesity Treatment Options
A statistic frequently used about obesity treatment is that 95
percent of people who lose weight gain it all back. That
statistic, based on a small study from 1959, is no longer valid.
Much has changed in the way of obesity treatment since then.
Thousands of people have succeeded in losing weight and keeping
it off -- an encouraging fact for many that are discouraged by
outdated information. There are several different types of
effective treatment options to manage weight including: dietary
therapy, physical activity, behavior therapy, drug therapy,
combined therapy and surgery...
Weight loss of about 10 percent of excess body weight is proven
to benefit health by reducing many obesity-related risk factors.
Recommendations for treatment are now focusing on 10 percent
weight loss to help patients with long-term maintenance of
weight loss. Health professionals including physicians,
nutritionists, exercise physiologists, psychologists and
bariatric surgeons help persons with overweight and obesity to
determine the most appropriate treatment...
|
